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Topps Comics
Topps Comics was a division of Topps Company, Inc. that published comic books from 1993 to 1998, beginning its existence during a short comics-industry boom that attracted many investors and new companies. It was based at 254 36th Street, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, and at One Whitehall Street, in New York City's Manhattan. The company specialized in licensed titles, particularly movie and television series tie-ins, such The X-Files, based on the Fox TV show, and the films Bram Stoker's Dracula and Jurassic Park. It also licensed such literary properties as Zorro, and published a smattering of original series, including Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and several based on concepts by then-retired industry legend Jack Kirby. History In March 1992, Topps Company, Inc. announced the formation of Topps Comics, to be headed by Jim Salicrup, with plans to start publishing in October 1992. In April 1993, Topps launched a superhero line, "The Kirbyverse", based on Jack Kirby drawings and concepts, with four one-shot titles. Topps entered the comic book market as the number of publishers was increasing, with at least nine other companies joining the field from 1990 to 1992. This coincided with an increase in comic-book market-speculation that created inflated sales and an eventual collapse of the market. Topps Comics closed in 1998. Personnel The editor-in-chief and associate publisher was Jim Salicrup. Editors included Len Brown (co-creator of Topps' 1962 Mars Attacks cards), Howard Zimmerman, and Dwight Jon Zimmerman. The company's sales and promotions manager Charles S. Novinskie is listed as, additionally, a Topps Comics editor in his capsule biography at Non-Sport Update magazine."Who's Who at NSU", Non-Sport Update, n.d. WebCitation archive. The company's design director, Brian Boerner, is listed as Reprint Editor (along with Charles S. Novinskie) in the Xena trade paperbacks' credits. Veteran comic-book scripter Tony Isabella, writing about difficulties with The X-Files creator Chris Carter over the Topps Comics' series, said in a 2000 interview, }} The Kirbyverse .]] The "Kirbyverse" comics, launched simultaneously with April 1993 cover-dates, stemmed from character designs and story concepts that the prolific Kirby, at this very late point in his life, had in his files of unrealized projects and preliminary sketches (some for Pacific Comics, which went defunct in the 1980s). Topps licensed them for an eight-title, interrelated mythos based around what became Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga. That flagship title was written by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, with an issue #0 Prequel drawn by artist Walt Simonson and the remainder of the series by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko. Kirby himself wrote and drew eight pages of the Satan's Six premiere, interlaced with story pages by writer Tony Isabella, penciler John Cleary and inker Armando Gil. Kirby's contribution may have been drawn in the 1970s, wrote one historian: "The 1970s was the flowering of Jack's interest in the paranormal. Freed from the restraints of more conservative collaborators, Jack delved into these themes with gusto. ... He developed 'Satan's Six' around this time, although it didn't see the light of day until the Topps Kirbyverse campaign in the 1990s." As well, the covers of the Bombast, Captain Glory, and NightGlider''Sources disagree on its spelling, sometimes even within the same source: The cover of the single issue itself appears to spell it "NightGlider". The cover of ''Victory #1 likewise spells it as one word, though in an all-caps typeface. The Grand Comics Database entry spells it as both "Nightglider" and "Night Glider". The archived pulldown title-search menu at the Jack Kirby Museum site spells it "Night Glider" one-shot comics noted below were built around preexisting Kirby character designs. Along with Secret City Saga and Satan's Six, the Kirbyverse titles were: *''Bombast'', by plotter Thomas, scripter Gary Friedrich and artists Dick Ayers & John Severin *Captain Glory, by writer Thomas and artist Ditko *''Jack Kirby's TeenAgents'', by writer Kurt Busiek, penciler Neil Vokes, and inkers John Beatty and Jordi Ensign *''Jack Kirby's Silver Star'', by writer Busiek, penciler James W. Fry III, and inker Terry Austin *''NightGlider'', by plotter Thomas, scripter Gerry Conway, and artist Don Heck *''Victory'', by writer Busiek, penciler Keith Giffen, and inker Jimmy Palmiotti Kurt Busiek, in an undated interview, gave some background on the comics line: }} In 2000, the Kirby estate said Dark Horse Entertainment had optioned Satan's Six as a film property. References External links *"Jack Kirby: A By-the-Month Chronology: 1980-1995". MarvelMastworks.com, n.d. WebCitation archive. Category:Topps Comics Category:Defunct book publishing companies of the United States Category:Publishing companies established in 1993 Category:Companies disestablished in 1998 Category:Defunct comics and manga publishing companies